Begin Building Your First Order Snowtrooper Army With Hot Toys’ New Force Awakens Figures

Oh the next year in Hot Toys is going to be so expensive, you guys. We've already got the rest of the Avengers: Age of Ultron roster to get through, but we'll also have the first Civil War figures, Batman V Superman figures, and of course, Star Wars: The Force Awakens to somehow find a way to finance. I'd take out a new mortgage on my home, but I'm a renter. Besides, we all know home ownership is merely an illusion for a geek culture writer on the internet. That doesn't stop the production train at Hot Toys from running though, and there's going to be a lot of new Force Awakens characters vying for your dollar in the coming year. Especially if you're an army builder.

Hot Toys has already shown off its standard First Order Stormtroopers, but now the company is turning its attention to the cold climate specialists, the Snowtroopers. We haven't seen them in any of the footage released so far, but they did make an appearance in that Vanity Fair photoshoot, and we do know that there will be some snowy climates dealt with in the film. Like the Stormtroopers, there will be two different Snowtroopers offered, with one being basic, and the other being a boss.

Both figures are nearly identical, with the only difference between the two being a red pauldron for the Snowtrooper Officer to signify that he's of a higher rank than the other soldiers. He also comes with some binoculars as an accessory, but at the core, there's just that one discrepancy between the two figures to make them stand apart. Longtime Star Wars collectors (or action figure collectors in general) are used to this kind of variance used to help not only fill out different waves of figure lines, but to allow fans a chance to actually build armies like there are in the films. With more commercial lines (Hasbro's Black Series, or 3.75" line), that kind of tactic in small changes is perfectly fine. Here though, when dealing with $200+ figures, it's a little annoying.

I don't mind paying $12-20 a pop for a handful of Stormtroopers, each with a small little accessorized difference, so I can have a cool-looking display. That Hot Toys is now employing the same tactic here for figures that cost ten times as much is a little frustrating. There will doubtless be people who drop the cash to pick up a half-dozen of these guys, but would it have killed Hot Toys to release one version of the Snowtrooper that offered the pauldron as an accessory rather than a selling point?

There's no price point or release date available as of yet, but as soon as Sideshow Collectibles has pre-orders open, we'll update this page. If the previous First Order Stormtrooper sets are a guideline, each figure will likely cost ~$220, with the set of two available for ~$390.